Cognizant to hire 20,000 freshers in 2025 to support AI-led software services
US IT firm Cognizant, which has a huge employee base in India, has announced plans to hire 20,000 freshers in 2025 -- a move intended to reshape the company's talent pyramid, particularly to support managed services and AI-led software development.
While the company's overall headcount remained nearly flat compared to previous quarter at 3,36,300, Cognizant's leadership highlighted the strategic importance of talent amplification as the firm accelerates its growth and innovation agenda.
"As we stated at our Investor Day, we are hiring 20,000 freshers as part of our strategy, which is more than double what we did last year," Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S said.
This year, Kumar noted that the company plans to hire many more fresh graduates to build a stronger workforce pyramid, especially since managed services projects have increased over the past two years. "But it also comes equally with a overhead of carrying higher bench at a lower cost and actually offshore," he said.
He said the company is focusing on three areas -- hiring freshers, increasing productivity through AI, and improving utilisation to manage human capital costs effectively. Cognizant shared that 14,000 former employees have rejoined the firm, with 10,000 more in pipeline.
"...with amplifying talent, we are strengthening our talent pipeline with skills needed for the AI era. As you heard us talk about during the Investor Day, we are upskilling our workforce at scale, leveraging AI to meet demand faster and identifying talent pools to address new areas unlocked by AI," Kumar said.
The New Jersey-headquartered firm has reported 7.45 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue to USD 5.1 billion for the January-March quarter of 2025.
First Published: 2 May 2025, 06:24 PM IST
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
14 minutes ago
- Time of India
India needs better regulatory framework to attract investments: Swiss diplomat
Switzerland's State Secretary for Economic Affairs Helene Budliger Artieda has said a good regulatory framework and cut in red tape in India is important to attract Swiss investments. She said businesses here have raised concerns about bureaucratic hurdles. India and the four European nation bloc EFTA has signed a free trade agreement on March 10, 2024, which is expected to come into force from October 1. Under the pact, India has received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion in 15 years from the grouping while allowing several products such as Swiss watches, chocolates, and cut and polished diamonds at lower or zero duties. Also Read: India is a preferred place for Swiss businesses: State Secretary for Economic Affairs Live Events The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. She said for USD 100 billion investments, "we need to have the best framework conditions and this was part of the business roundtable meeting in the presence of Minister Goyal". "That will be important that red tape will be cut as much as possible. Even in Switzerland, companies always complain that there is too much red tape. It will be very important that India creates a good framework for Swiss investments to come in," she told reporters here after meeting Goyal on June 10. The Indian minister was here on a two-day official visit to meet businesses to attract investments into India. On the issue of Swiss government suspending the most favoured nation (MFN) status clause in the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and Switzerland, Artieda said there has been some misunderstanding on this. "But it really has no connection whatsoever... I think it's important to know that both India and Switzerland share a double taxation treaty and that treaty is valid and that means there will not be any issue," she said. In a statement in December 2024, the Swiss government announced the suspension of the MFN clause in the DTAA between India and Switzerland, potentially impacting Swiss investments in India and leading to higher taxes on Indian companies operating in the European nation. She also said implementation of the trade agreement will help increase exports of Swiss watches and chocolates in India. Also Read: Govt may help MSMEs register products abroad: Piyush Goyal Swiss companies will have the advantage of preferred access to markets in India for both watches and chocolates due to this pact. Further she added that Switzerland is confident of achieving the USD 100 billion investment commitment in 15 years in India. "I am very confident we will achieve that," she said. India-EFTA two-way trade was USD 18.65 billion in 2022-23 (of this, USD 17.14 billion with Switzerland) compared to USD 27.23 billion in 2021-22. The trade deficit was USD 14.8 billion in the last fiscal year. In 2024-25, India's imports from EFTA bloc increased to USD 22.5 billion from USD 22 billion in 2023-24. Exports stood at USD 1.96 billion in the last fiscal year, up from USD 1.94 billion in 2023-24. Switzerland is the largest trading partner of India in the bloc, followed by Norway. EFTA countries are not part of the European Union (EU). It is an inter-governmental organisation for the promotion and intensification of free trade. It was founded as an alternative for states that did not wish to join the European community. India is negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement separately with the EU -- the 27-nation bloc. India has received about USD 10.83 billion in foreign direct investments (FDI) from Switzerland between April 2000 and March 2025. It is the 12th largest investor in India. The FDI inflow was USD 931.88 million from Norway, USD 29.41 million from Iceland and USD 105.93 million from Liechtenstein during the period.
Time of India
35 minutes ago
- Time of India
India among top 10 global cross-border investment destinations for land & development sites in Q1 FY26
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel India continues to solidify its position as one of the most attractive global destinations for cross-border investments in land and development sites, according to Colliers' Global Capital Flows June 2025 report. The country ranked seventh globally and was one of seven Asia-Pacific markets that dominated the top 10 destinations in this asset class, underscoring the region's growing influence in global real estate capital strong macroeconomic fundamentals, pro-investment policies, and sustained infrastructure push have significantly enhanced its real estate investment landscape. The first quarter of 2025 witnessed institutional investments in Indian real estate reaching USD 1.3 billion, a 31% year-on-year growth, with foreign capital contributing 40% of the total inflows.'India's real estate sector has shown remarkable resilience in the face of global headwinds. The steady inflow of global and regional capital, particularly into land and development assets, reflects increasing investor confidence in the country's long-term growth story,' said Badal Yagnik, Chief Executive Officer, Colliers India. 'With growing participation in residential, life sciences, and data center segments, India is rapidly emerging as a comprehensive investment hub across asset classes.'The report highlights India's growing appeal beyond just office spaces, as global investors increasingly diversify into residential, industrial, and warehousing segments. Development platforms and alternative investment structures are also gaining traction, providing investors with flexible and scalable capital deployment models.'Foreign investor interest in Indian real estate is broadening. While office remains a key focus, the residential segment is witnessing heightened traction, supported by robust demand, favorable returns, and a stable policy environment,' said Vimal Nadar, National Director & Head of Research, Colliers India. 'With the benchmark repo rate now at 5.5%, the lowest in three years, we expect investment momentum to accelerate further in the coming quarters.'India's positioning in the global landscape is further validated by the broader trend in the Asia Pacific region. Alongside China, Singapore, Australia, and Malaysia, India maintained a strong showing in cross-border activity in Q1 2025. Notably, China accounted for 80% of total cross-border activity in the region, reinforcing Asia Pacific's the office sector remains the most sought-after across APAC, interest in industrial, retail, and emerging asset classes is gaining pace. Globally, multifamily remains the top sector, but in India, the diversity of investment avenues continues to attract long-term capital aligned with its evolving real estate ecosystem.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Challenging times for global trade; India will certainly cross USD 825 bn exports this fiscal: Piyush Goyal
The world trade is facing severe geo-political challenges, but India has consistently emerged as a winner in such times, and the country's exports of goods and services will certainly cross USD 825 billion in 2025-26, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said. Despite global economic uncertainties due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Israel-Hamas war and the Red Sea crisis, the country's overall exports touched an all-time high of USD 825 billion against USD 778 billion in 2023-24. As per estimates of certain multi-lateral bodies, there would be a contraction in global trade , Goyal said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Complete protection with iPru All-in-one Term Plan ICICI Pru Life Insurance Plan Get Quote Undo "The world is going through severe geo-political these are challenging times, but India has always emerged (as) a winner in challenging times and we did a record USD 825 billion exports in 2024-25. This year, we hope to do much better," he told PTI. When asked if last fiscal's figures will be crossed, he said: "We will certainly be able to cross that". Live Events Apex exporters' body FIEO has projected that the country's overall goods and services exports are expected to grow by over 21 per cent year-on-year to USD 1 trillion during 2025-26. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President S C Ralhan has said the healthy growth may come on account of international buyers seeking to diversify their sourcing in the wake of global economic uncertainties. In 2025-26, merchandise exports are expected to grow 12 per cent to USD 525-535 billion from USD 437 billion in 2024-25, while services exports are likely to rise by about 20 per cent year-on-year to USD 465-475 billion from USD 387 billion in the last fiscal, according to FIEO. The major sectors that are expected to show a significant jump in the shipments this fiscal include electronics, engineering, chemicals, textile and clothing, pharma and even the agriculture sector. Free trade agreements with countries such as the UAE, Australia and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) will also help boost exports in the coming months. The India-EFTA trade agreement is expected to come into force from October 1 this year. Goyal also said that FTAs signed during the Congress era were not good and have impacted domestic firms. They signed FTAs with countries like ASEAN , which are India's competitors; besides, they were not balanced, he said, adding that India opened more markets for those countries and "we did not get" good deals in return. On finished goods, he said, India removed the duties but import taxes on raw materials created inverted duty issues and that hurt "us a lot", he said. He added that now the Modi government is doing FTAs with developed countries/regions like Australia, the UK, EFTA, the EU, the UAE, Oman, Peru, and Chile. "Here we collaborate, there is no we are doing FTAs with well thought out strategies," Goyal said. India-EFTA signed the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) on March 10, 2024. Under the pact, India has received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion in 15 years from the grouping while allowing several products such as Swiss watches, chocolates, and cut and polished diamonds at lower or zero duties. When asked if India would have to ease certain regulations to attract this investment, Goyal said it has been a commitment based on today's situation. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is continuously focusing on ease of doing business, deregulation, reducing compliance burden, decriminalising the laws, making it attractive to do business in India," he said, adding that " I think this USD 100 billion will be exceeded and come faster".
